Thursday 17-11-2022 - 09:52

On Friday, 11th November at 8pm, students arrived at St. Chad’s Dining Hall to take part in a ‘Speak Free’ event. With wine, cheese, softs, and snacks laid out on the tables. Groups of twelve sat down to discuss and debate various topics that are impacting students here and now. Who is responsible for the Housing Crisis, and what role does the University have in this? Should our attitude on drug consumption move towards harm-reduction, or remain at zero-tolerance? Would students be better off if departments returned to pre-covid practices, or are there elements to teaching and assessment that should be kept in place going forward? This was the first time any of the Durham SU Officers hosted an event such as this, and hopefully it will be the first of many. 

I am delighted to say that Speak Free was an overwhelming success. We had an excellent turnout for the event, with the Dining Hall full of thought-provoking and exciting conversation. A wide range of students were invited, covering a spread of Colleges, levels of study, Associations, societies, and more. Opportunities such as this, where students from all across campus can come together, sit down, and have passionate discussions about meaningful topics with thought-out responses, are unfortunately not often the focus when it comes to free speech discourse. We see too often on campus free speech and debate being facilitated by a minority of students through reckless theatrics, without any regard for our student community.  However, students on the evening of November the 11th at Speak Free, decided to make inclusive and meaningful free speech the focus. This was a chance for students to demonstrate what the culture of debate should be like in Durham, and they did just that.  

Holding events like this shows how students continue to set a great example of how our community can respond in the face of those who actively challenge our values. This event was purposefully held at the same time as Rod Liddle was due to speak at a Durham Union Society debate. The anger felt by the student population when news about Liddle’s return surfaced was both unsurprising and justified. Last year’s Officer Team wrote a statement on how Liddle’s speech was the result of “a longstanding failure to properly address unacceptable behaviour”, which was followed by Jack’s statement last month outlining how the “Durham Union Society’s priority is to generate outrage … without any thought for the impact on our community”.  

The conflation of an individual’s right to freedom of speech with the notion that hate speech and bigotry can be espoused without challenge or criticism is not a student-written narrative. In fact, it’s one that students have actively resisted. This is why events such as Speak Free are important – both to illustrate what good free speech and debate actually looks like, and how students want to show this.  

As the event drew to a close, I had a number of students express how they wished for more of these events to be held in the future. I couldn’t agree more. More Speak Free events will be carried out throughout the year, and I can’t wait to see the great debates and discussions that students will have going forward.  

I want to extend a huge thank you to St. Chad’s College for holding the event, and their staff for helping to make it all happen. I also want to thank all the student leaders who helped facilitate these debates and discussions. Finally, I wish to thank all the students who attended the event – I appreciate you taking the time out of your evening to come and demonstrate what good free speech and debate really looks like here at Durham.